I forgot to mention yesterday the one big piece of gaming news that went down in California: on Friday Governor Schwarzenegger signed a new bill that prohibits the sale or rental of violent video games to those under the age of 18. Those who break this new law will face penalties that include a $1,000 fine.
Now on the surface, such a law sounds like a terrific idea. And I guess it is…. if you’re the type of parent who wishes to further distance themselves with the act of parenting, and instead place such judgment calls into the hands of the government, and in this case, the cashier at Target. But anyone who takes a closer look (which, as well all know, is something no one does these days) will see how fucking insane this new bill truly.
First off, here’s the bill in its entirety. Take your time to read it, and let it sink in how incredibly vague and unsubstantiated much of what is stated. Its no wonder that many feel that this could have a “chilling effect” on free speech.
Now let’s take a closer look at two specific parts. Here’s the first…
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Exposing minors to depictions of violence in video games,
including sexual and heinous violence, makes those minors more likely
to experience feelings of aggression, to experience a reduction of
activity in the frontal lobes of the brain, and to exhibit violent
antisocial or aggressive behavior.
(b) Even minors who do not commit acts of violence suffer
psychological harm from prolonged exposure to violent video games.
(c) The state has a compelling interest in preventing violent,
aggressive, and antisocial behavior, and in preventing psychological
or neurological harm to minors who play violent video games.
1746. For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall
apply:
(a) “Minor” means any natural person who is under 18 years of age
… First off, where in the hell did the authors of this bill drudge up such bullshit scientific facts? Violent games causes a decrease in frontal lobe activity and has harmful psychological and neurological effects which directly causes a person to become aggressive and antisocial? Seriously, what the fuck.
But furthermore, video games are now basically being lumped together with drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. And yes, I too have made the connection that one can sell all of Arnold’s ultra violent movies to a person under 18 without facing fine, but selling a violent video game to the same underage individual will incur the $1,000 fine, much like cigarettes or something physically harmful or dangerous.
It would be one thing all forms of media, such as movies, books, and music, were applicable, but its just games being singled out here, or at least violent ones. But what how exactly are violent video games defined? Well take a look at the following, and pay close attention to the very last part…
(d) (1) “Violent video game” means a video game in which the range
of options available to a player includes killing, maiming,
dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being, if
those acts are depicted in the game in a manner that does either of
the following:
(A) Comes within all of the following descriptions:
(i) A reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would
find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors.
(ii) It is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the
community as to what is suitable for minors.
(iii) It causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary,
artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
This last part is simply insane, and so open for interpretation, specifically those with agendas that wish to dictate what the rest of the public should be seeing, hearing, or reading, that its almost scary.
Now let me just state for the record that no kid should be playing violent games, obviously. And I’m all for enforcing a ratings system, but this bill doesn’t do that. Instead of supporting a guideline to help parents, which is what the current ESRB ratings system does, it simply creates a whole new classification for the state of California that’s backed by a set of completely arbitrary set of rules and standards, who which can be used to label almost any game “dangerous” to minors. On the creative side, many game creators will have to constantly second-guess themselves in an effort to avoid the dreaded 18 or over label. But on the other side of the fence, this will finally give those who use violent games as a scapegoat for all of society’s ills with the means they’ve been looking for to go after whatever game they wish, leading to not only lawsuits galore, but a cheap means for politicians to look “concerned”. Take a look at Schwarzenegger for example, who has the been the target of a smear campaign from the teacher’s union, which has labeled him as man that “took two billion away from our kids” and “now refuses to pay it back”. He’s been suffering in the polls and desperately needs a way to look concerned for the children.
Though ultimately, its all just utterly pointless; kids are going to get their hands on violent games, no matter what. Some will undoubtedly feel that parents need all the help they can get when it comes to handling subversive material that comes their children’s way, but in the end, the key isn’t legislation but education. Plus its not as if there aren’t means out there to help educate parents as to what their kids are playing. But unfortunately, many simply ignore the existing ratings that are both on the front and the back of the boxes, which are plain as day might I add. And I’ve also spoken to plenty of folks who work at game stores who tell me that parents either still don’t notice them or just don’t care. If parents simply sat down with their kids and talked to them about violence, that would do wonders.
And this isn’t entirely unexpected. Movies were also demonized back in the days, as was rock and roll, and of course comic books. Anyway, if politicians really want to make a difference, they should do what Unicef did and bomb the Smurfs.
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Elsewhere in the news, there’s not much happening. I don’t mean to talk about the Xbox 360 all the time, but its somewhat hard not to given all the ridiculous pre-lauch hype thats happening. Its actually quite humorous since MS is doing such a bad job of it all. Not only is watching them slowly scale back their “HD-era” initiative funny, but so are the nugget of wisdoms that plop from Allard’s mouth on an almost daily basis, such as his assertion that Halo 2 is the best game that’s ever been created.
Another reason is the less than impressive screenshots that are floating about, which are a strong contrast to what we all saw during E3 (I have to admit, I too fell for some of the hype). Hence why the following, despite being many years old, is still just as valid (its from an issue of Next Generation magazine which I’ve had for years):
One last thing, and back to politics, there’s also word that Jack Thompson, the guy who formerly hated all violent video games, now wanting to make one of his own.
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As for the real world, I hear rumors that the fire that destroyed the Aardman Animation warehouse was started by some insane Serenity fan. Plus the Venom costume in Spider Man 3 is not black but purple. Yeesh… Also, I’ve been watching all the new Director’s Label DVDs at home and am disappointed to say that they aren’t perfect. First off, I can’t understand the inconsistent quality of some of the videos. I forgot to mention that Nirvana’s Heart Shape Box on the Corbin DVD is really artifact-y. And on the Jonathan Glazer set, that awesome Levis commercial that he directed, the one where the man and the woman run through walls, has different music which just doesn’t fit.
And at work, I have a new guilty pleasure: its that time of the year where seniors who are majoring in dynamic media are auditioning actors and actresses for their thesis projects. And without fail, at least one a day has a major blow-up for some dumb reason, and it just awesome to see some nobody prima donna act all huffy, especially since many of the actresses have voices like chipmunks in the midst of puberty.
Finally, today is a special day of sorts. What’s the occasion? Why its MK and I’s one year anniversary! We’ve been seeing each other an entire year to this very day. To celebrate, there’ll be food, maybe a movie, and something special later tonight if you catch my drift… yup, some head to head Soul Calibur 2! And maybe some Tekken and Super Smash Bros.
What can I say? I’m a romantic.
